


A Game of War

by Speechless_Seal



Category: Deltarune (Video Game), Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gaster is the Knight here, Gaster should get one too but he's not going to because, Implied Aerialist Jevil, Jevil needs a hug, Light Angst, My First Work in This Fandom, Other, Seam needs a hug, W. D. Gaster Being An Asshole, can be read as Seavil but not necessarily, please have mercy im nervous, please help ive never actually published any of my work before, who am I kidding that's probably not true
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2019-11-04 18:09:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17903021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Speechless_Seal/pseuds/Speechless_Seal
Summary: Jevil has an interesting analogy for all he's learned.





	1. Just Unwell.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I'm Speechless. This is my first work being published on.... uh... 
> 
> anywhere?
> 
> At least where it's open to the public. I hope you enjoy this little drabble that I plan on continuing. It's not very proofread, but I can fix that I guess-
> 
> Pleasure to meet ya'll.

Everyone had always known that Jevil was a little... out of touch with reality. Volatile, unpredictable. A wild card. 

Seam knew it too, but rather, was more interested in the thrill that his wildness brought to their games rather than the repercussions it might have beyond them. 

(He was a spry young tabby at that time, but his cotton has clotted and his fur has matted since, and in all honesty, he doesn’t care about repercussions anymore.) 

But knew his companion closely enough to know the difference between his regular crazy and abnormal crazy. 

This was definitely one of those “abnormal crazy” times, especially considering his little friend had spent their entire rehearsal trembling from head to toe, and murmuring under his breath as he tried to focus on what was going on onstage. Of course, difficulty focusing was normal for Jevil. He was Jevil. He was all over the place. Unlike his feline companion, he’d always had a bit of trouble organizing himself when it came to working, and keeping his attention on a single thing was something near impossible for the gremlin-esque Darkener. As for the trembling, vibrating in excitement was not unusual for him. 

But this was different. It was not trembling, as a small dog would do, rather shivering as if he were chilly or frightened, and it was not his usual careless absentmindedness. It appeared he was making a conscious effort to stay in touch with the world around him, and was failing. 

Seam had not been concerned initially, but his worry grew as the hours passed, and he eventually felt the compulsion to ask Jevil if everything was alright. Perhaps he was ill, or maybe he hadn’t slept well. The young prince, Lancer, had quite powerful lungs for a babe. His cries resounded, day and night, around the whole of Card Castle. Everyone living in it had gotten used to intermittent bouts of rest, woken up by the screaming young spade-ling every few hours. It was bound to have an impact on someone eventually.

Yes, perhaps that was it. 

Better to ask, however. 

He approached the jester during their lunchtime. He had his head down on the dining table and hadn’t touched any food. The rag-doll’s worry spiked as he saw this, and he placed a paw on the Darkener’s shoulder. 

No response. 

“...Jevil.” He shook him a little bit. “Are you alright?”

The smaller Darkener shook his head softly. 

“...are you ill?” He continued, having ruled out sleep deprivation from his theories. This was too sudden to be sleep deprivation. “...if so, you can take the day off, and I’ll make you some tea if you wish...”

“...not ill.” The fool finally spoke. “...just unwell, unwell...” 

His speech was slurred and his lisp was more prominent than usual. The bells on his hat jingled rather pathetically as he rolled his head to the side to face his feline friend. 

“...how so, friend?” Seam asked. 

“...it’s very cold here.” the jester mused. “...it’s very cold and dark, dark...” 

Seam glanced around the candle-lit dining hall of Card Castle. 

“...well, of course, it’s dark,” he uttered. “We live in the Darkener kingdom, friend. If you’re chilly, however, you can take my scarf. It will be quite big on you, and cozy. But that does not answer my question-”

He stopped speaking, having caught the royal jester giving him an unsettling toothy grin. It seemed forced and ungenuine, and Seam had never seen such a smile from him before. Jevil, forcing a smile? He was the royal jester. Smiles came naturally to him, and if they didn’t, he’d make up a reason to show one. It was his job. 

“You’re funny,” Jevil said through gritted teeth. “You’re hilarious. That’s my job, though. I’m the jester. You’re not the jester.”

The jester flinched as the mage removed his hand from his shoulder to wrap him up in the scarf. He took the cozy cloth and pulled it tighter around himself as he murmured, “too hot, too hot”. Confused, Seam tried to take the cloth back, only to have his paw slapped away by the shivering buffoon. 

“...you’re not running a fever, are you?” the cat asked one last time, feeling the jester’s forehead for warmth. None. In fact, he seemed quite alright beyond his trembling and babbling. 

“Fever, fever?” The Darkener chuckled. “Not at all, not at all. Once more, I tell you, I am not ill. Simply unwell. It will pass.” 

Raising an eyebrow, the mage sat next to his friend, with some difficulty due to his enormous build. 

“...what’s up with you, then? You’re not yourself, friend.” 

The jester scooted closer to the bulky Darkener. 

“...I just feel like the world doesn’t make sense anymore. It’s spinning, spinning, and the world of the Lighteners, it’s changing, changing…. constantly…” 

He paused, and pulled the scarf closer to his chest, tying it near his own cloak. 

“...but… in the Dark World… have you noticed how at one point, things stop changing here…? Almost as if it’s all… one big… repetitive cycle…?”

Seam placed a paw on Jevil’s shoulder, pressing him into a half-hug. “There’s an adage for that. “History repeats itself”, I suppose. Is that what you’re referring to?” 

“...no, no. That’s not it. But… in a way- no, perhaps. I… I really don’t know how to explain it to you, except…” 

And here, he fumbled for the deck of playing cards in his pocket. 

“...it’s like starting a new round in a game of war. It leads up to something, until you’ve done 26 rounds, and then you start all over again, and you still know that you’ve already played a game of war, but this is a new, new game of war. And just like in every game of war, you win or you lose and it doesn’t matter in the end, because-“ 

The jester’s voice broke, and he slapped the playing cards onto the table, sending them flying across it and disrupting the lunches of several Darkeners. 

“-because they’re always just going to shuffle the deck again and hand out the playing cards again, but no matter what cards you get, the game will be win or lose! Always just win or lose, win or lose, and the game ends and another one of the same starts!” 

“...I am not sure I understand, friend.” Seam mewed, a bit in awe at the jester’s outburst. 

Jevil put both hands on his temples and exhaled deeply, breaths ragged. His tail was tucked between his legs where he sat. He shook his head in desperation.

“I don’t want to understand either, either,” he whined. “I don’t want to, want to… but is it really possible to ignore an elephant in the room this big?”

One of the cracker animals, who had just been brought out of its cage for rehearsal, seemed to overhear, and trumpeting with its trunk, could be heard saying, “how rude”. Seam mewed at it to buzz off. 

“...perhaps it would be best if you took the rest of the day off,” he finished. “Even if you feel alright. Burnout isn’t good for a performer. Maybe it’ll give you time to think things through more calmly, so you can tell me what’s wrong in the way you mean to. How’s that sound?”

The jester sighed deeply. “Perhaps…. Thank you, Seam”.


	2. A Goopy Egg.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seam doesn't know what's happening to Jevil. Jevil doesn't seem to know what's happening to Jevil. Perhaps it would be best to try to talk it out, but Jevil seems a tad unreliable at the moment.

If anything, more time to think was the opposite of what Jevil had needed. 

The jester had run into Seam’s quarters at three in the morning, clutching dozens of loose-leaf papers all scribbled neatly with strange letters, which would’ve been no cause for concern, knowing Jevil, had he not been sobbing his eyes out. The cat was a bit of an insomniac, and the jester knew it. It was no wonder that he’d chosen to approach him at that hour. He was probably the only one awake in the whole castle.

The jester had burst through the door with his eyes streaming and his words barely comprehensible through his wheezing and his lisp. He’d run up to the mage, shaking him by the shoulders, and levitating to reach the magician’s height. His dark eyes were frantic as he shook the pages in front of his face. 

“I have proof, proof now!” he cried. “None of it matters! None of it, please- SEAM!” 

His voice had gotten so loud that his sobs had turned to screams. 

“You- you’re not like the others, Seam! You understand it too, I know you do! You’re like me- and if you let me show you, I can make you see it- I…” 

Before the jester could say another word, the mage had pulled him close to his chest, and embraced him. He stroked his back soothingly with an enormous paw, and hushed him, a bit shaken himself. The jester gave a shaky wheeze before forcing his breaths to stabilize, and continuing to sob into the rag doll’s shirt. 

“...please tell me you understand too…” he sniffled. “I don’t want to be alone… it’s so dark, dark… and so, so cold…”

“There, there, friend.” Seam soothed. “...I’m listening. Can you explain what’s wrong?”

The cat brought his little friend further into the room, with his little desk in one corner, a small couch in front of the fire, and shelves stuffed full of random objects which he’d amassed over the years.

“...I am not sure I can,” Jevil said after some time. “But…” 

He held up the pages he had run in with. 

“...I don’t want to read them again. Maybe you can, though.”

The cat took the stack of neatly formatted pages and began to flip through them. Scanning over them with his bright button eyes, he found nothing more than string after string of odd drawings ranging from hands to smiley faces sketched tidily in dark pencil. None of them even resembled letters, in fact. 

“...this is gibberish, Jevil.” Seam said with concern. 

“....no, no! He said- he says… you have potential, Seam! We can do anything, anything- just… if you could just understand…” 

Seam placed a paw over Jevil’s mouth. 

“...you’re not well,” he insisted finally. “You should be resting instead of filling your head with ridiculous fantasies about- and it really was wild when you proposed this- card games and blank slates and pages written in gibberish. Who even gave these to you?” 

He shook the pages in front of the jester, who had hidden his face in his hands.

“The scientist man, of course! The one who came through town- he taught me everything, everything, Seam! I know it all now and… oh, how I wish I could return to blissful, blissful ignorance, it’s picking at my brain. I’m being swallowed alive- he speaks in hands and it’s like his words are choking me. I am drowning… in… his darkness…”

The jester trailed off, eyes wide now, staring at Seam without blinking. 

“I… have… no idea… where any of that came from,” he whispered. 

The ragdoll frowned. 

“....stay here for tonight. You can sleep on the couch and I’ll keep an eye on you, alright? We can discuss more about this strange man over tea.”

The imp-like Darkener nodded softly. 

“...that would be nice.”

_________________________________________________________________________________

“What I’m gathering from this is that… a strange man who speaks in signs, which you say… “hands”... has been passing through the castle and talking your ear off about the repetitive cycles of our universe?”

Jevil nodded as he sipped from the mug of chamomile tea that Seam had made him. 

“That about sums it up, yes,” he mused. “Only, he only appears to… certain people.”  
He stared down Seam for a moment. He scanned the tall Darkener from head to toe, as if reminiscing. He eyed the other Darkener’s glittering button eyes, as if in admiration, before returning his gaze to the mug.  
“...it’s as if only those he picks can see him. I’m the only one he’s picked so far.” 

“...Jevil, please keep in mind that this might all just be in your head for a moment.” Seam sighed. 

“But I know it’s not,” Jevil said. “Perhaps… perhaps all he’s said to me, that may be so, so... But he is real. Tangible, but… not, at the same time.” The jester hesitated. “This is really good tea-”

“Don’t change the subject.” Seam snapped. “Maybe if you tell me how he looks like, I can help resolve this issue of yours.”

Jevil thought to himself and then smiled.

“He looks like a goopy egg,” he said. “In dark clothes.”

Seam’s expression was deadpan. 

“... if… you say so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very short, kinda bad chapter that will lead up to Seam trying to find this strange man.


	3. To See Through An Illusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day starts out fine until Seam has to apply some good ol' magician's wisdom.

The next morning, the little jester seemed to have bettered. He had said nothing at all about the previous night’s events throughout breakfast, other than thanking Seam for looking after him during his “little fit”, as Seam called it. The ragdoll was determined to help his friend however he could.

Still, he could not help but think that perhaps this was a one-time thing plaguing Jevil. He’d heard the Darkener recite atrocities far worse than the gibberish he was spouting now. He’d bounce from side to side, tail curled as always, into a J-shape, chuckling rhymes and limericks about the vilest subjects. His utter disrespect for such matters and acts of indecency in the face of seriousness would’ve made one shake if he wasn’t always so comical about it. It was actually entertaining to watch him poke fun at the authorities of the world.

Yes, that was the difference.

He had not played a card trick as he’d explained the card metaphor to Seam, rather he’d slapped the deck onto the table in desperation. He had not come shaking the pages in front of his eyes doing cartwheels into his room, rather wracked with sobs, eyes wild with confusion… and this man.

The utter terror and admiration in Jevil’s eyes as he spoke of this strange man was horrifying.

This thought removed any and all misgivings Seam had in an instant.

Not a one-time thing. Something was wrong with his friend, and he needed to help him before it continued. For his own sake, too. He found it creepy how Jevil kept linking him to the situation in his ramblings.  
“...now, if I were a creepy scientist man stalking a court clown in a castle, where would I be?” Seam chuckled to himself as he left the dining hall. “Perhaps I should call out to him? Maybe I need bait- in that case, Jevil should do- if I just hang around him all day, maybe I’ll catch them, and if not, I’ll be able to see what’s really wrong with him.”

He strolled into their rehearsal area and scanned the room. The cracker animals were being taken outside for their daily stretch and grooming, and Seam could spot some of the guardsmen’s children peering through the enormous door to the rehearsal area in attempts of taking a peek at the exotic creatures from the Lightener world. He found the paper ballerinas stretching in a corner, perfectly synchronized as they warmed up to the music of their small orchestra. He glanced up at the rafters, and sure as ever, Jevil was hanging upside down on his silks, seemingly just familiarizing himself once more before beginning the day. He waved down at Seam, sticking his long violet tongue out and letting it loll upside down. The twinkle had returned to his eyes for the moment, it seemed, as had his immature nature. Seam was satisfied to see that the jester was feeling better, and let his worries melt away for the moment.

“Seam, Seam!” he giggled, almost maniacally. “I was thinking of a new trick we could do with the silks! Can you infuse them with blue magic? That way, they can change colors and it’s easier to float, float!”

The jester tumbled down on the silks, catching his hat before it had the chance to fall off his head.

“You can already float, you silly.” Seam laughed innocently. “Better than any of our blue magic could ever help you with. Anything else though?”

“Maybe we could have lots of lights, and spades, coming down from the roof! The Spade King loves those, and he’s been a little cranky, cranky!” Jevil suggested. “As for the blue magic, the silks would float too! How amazing would that look, look?”

“That’s doable.” Seam said. “Help me get on the rafters so we can start.”

The cat rubbed his paws together, charging them with blue magic as best as he could in an attempt to manipulate his position in the air. His paws glowed a gentle blue before he rose no more than a few inches off the floor, and began to climb the silks with his dull claws and hind dewclaws. By the time he got to the top of the rafters, he’d turned the whole of the silks bright blue and radiant, and Jevil had pressed bright white spades into the cloths, ready to explode at his command. Satisfied with their work, the pair tumbled down and landed on the floor as the last of the blue ebbed from Seam’s paws. The silks began to drift upward softly as Seam moved his hands. He grinned widely as the spectacle began to come together in his mind and before his eyes.

“Great idea, Jevil!” he laughed, his button eyes shimmering with awe. “Now get up there and let’s pull this act together!”

He waited for a moment, eyes transfixed on the silks, and ready to begin the act with his partner.

But Jevil did not climb.

“...Jevil?” Seam muttered and whipped his head around, remembering his worry for his friend.

The jester’s eyes glimmered. His bright yellow pupils were transfixed on a spot in the distance. The smile had been wiped from his face, leaving an ugly smear of an expression in its place. Seam swallowed hard and stood next to his friend. Was this it? Was this his chance to find what was troubling him?

He fixed his gaze on the spot that he thought his friend was watching, and focused hard.

He brought his mind back to a tip that an old mentor had given him once. Sometimes, to manifest an illusion, it would be harder than just clapping his paws together, they’d said. When that was the case, it was helpful to look at the world as if none of it was real. That way, he’d see it as non-concrete, and therefore malleable. He’d be able to shape reality to his will in his mind, and creating the illusion would be easy. He also remembered how that applied to seeing past illusions. Seeing the world as shapeable and unreal allowed him to mentally tear away what others wanted him to see, and find the truth.

He recalled Jevil’s frightened eyes staring up at him at the dining hall, and allowed his words to echo and solidify in his mind. He turned off his button eyes and tried to convince himself that all his ridiculous ramblings were true, about the world as a game of war, shapeable by only the dealer of the cards, whoever that mysterious force might be.

“None of it matters,” he told himself.

He opened his eyes, and saw.

And upon looking at that strange man’s face, he was utterly convinced of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone for all the positive feedback! To be honest I don't feel very secure writing fanfiction, haha. I know I write pretty short chapters but I'll have the next (possibly final?) one out soon! 
> 
> Thanks again!


	4. A Glimpse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seam gets a taste of what Jevil knows.

Seam’s brain had turned to fuzz upon seeing that indescribable face. He felt his cotton clot in his joints as he tensed. He reached out for Jevil. Suddenly overwhelmed with fear of the unknown, he looked for comfort in his small friend, only to find himself holding a whimpering ball of fear. The concern for his friend seemed to override his own terror, however, as he found himself resting his eyes on the strange man’s figure, soaking up the nihilist vibes that his very presence gave off. 

 

He had to admit, Jevil’s description was right. 

 

He wouldn’t have been able to put it into words if the jester hadn’t suggested what the man might’ve looked like. Besides that, only one thing caught his attention: his hands. 

 

He beckoned him forth with those slim, long digits of his, flashing a blank, drooping smile, and Seam could see the holes in his palms, reminiscent of a piece taken perfectly out of a cake. 

 

So, seeing an opportunity, he approached, setting Jevil down, and charging his paws with bright yellow magic, cast a small shield around himself. However, upon putting his foot down for only a moment, he found himself face to face with the man, having travelled all the way across the room, only he wasn’t in the room anymore. He was cold, shivering even with his thick, fluffy fur and cloak to protect him. Hesitating for a moment, he backed away from the smiling man and wrapped himself tightly in his own scarf. He tried to look back towards Jevil, only to find that he was no longer there. 

 

It was so dark. 

 

He couldn’t see anything beyond his glowing yellow paws, and the man. 

 

He felt fear swell in his chest and embed itself in his cotton. His soul fluttered with terror, and he saw it glow yellow within his chest as his magic flared in his panic. That couldn’t be, Darkener souls couldn’t do that-

 

And he was pulled forth again, face to face with the man, who addressed him in a dark, incomprehensible voice, moving his drooping hands in synch with his words. 

 

⚐︎♒︎📪︎ 🙵♓︎⧫︎⧫︎♏︎■︎📬︎ ✡︎□︎◆︎ ⬧︎◆︎❒︎♏︎ ♋︎❒︎♏︎ ■︎□︎⬧︎⍓︎📪︎ ♋︎❒︎♏︎■︎🕯︎⧫︎ ⍓︎□︎◆︎✍︎

 

He shivered from head to toe as the man placed his hands over his paws, grasping them gently. 

 

“I don’t understand,” he whimpered, and mentally, tore at the distortion on the man’s voice, in a desperate attempt to understand his situation. “What do you want with me? What do you want with Jevil?!”

 

The man smiled wider, and his pale face drooping, almost like hot wax. He made a garbled, distorted noise, and drew the ragdoll closer. 

“I WANT TO SHOW YOU WHAT I SHOWED YOUR FRIEND.” 

 

* * *

>   
>    
> 

Seam held the deck of cards between his claws, and stared into the man’s eyes.

 

Yes, he… he understood it now. Somewhat.

It really was not that much of a surprise to him. 

 

It explained a lot. 

 

That was alright. 

 

It didn’t matter. 

 

It didn’t, but the man was cold and clinical in speech and action, and he’d be lonely here. Waiting out a repetitive eternity in a place like this would be hell, if hell was cold, damp and dark. 

 

Yes, he understood. He was powerful enough to untether himself from that loop if he wished. He could stop caring altogether and there would be no consequence to his actions because  _ it didn’t matter.  _

 

Nah. 

 

He might’ve just gotten a taste of what Jevil had been shown, but he still had his dignity, and goddamn, he still had self control. He wasn’t going to hurt people just because he could, and he recognized that  _ all this mumbo-jumbo was upsetting his friend. _ He wasn’t going to put up with that. 

 

So dropping his cards, he held his ground, and let his paws shine with soft green light. 

 

“Thank you for your time,” he hissed. “I’d appreciate it if you let me leave and left Jevil alone now.”

 

Seeing the threatening gesture, the man’s smile sagged into a frown, and he reached out one of those odd hands of his to him, as if saying “what did I do wrong?” without speaking. He sauntered forth towards the ragdoll, and Seam felt his soul swell with magic once more. It felt unnatural. Disgusting. His paws glowed brighter green, and he felt a shield develop around him. 

 

“I don’t want to fight you,” he hissed. “But with what you’ve shown me, I won’t hesitate.”

 

The man gave a low whine, and stumbled forth as if drunk. Seam stepped further away, expressionless. 

 

Next thing he knew, he was on the floor, shivering from head to toe and gasping for air. His fur felt heavy and thick around him, he sputtered and heaved, trying to get this- this... stuff, out of his nose and mouth-

 

Someone was screaming his name, shaking his shoulders. He let his eyes twirl for a bit, adjusting, slowly focusing, allowing his sight to clear-

 

He coughed up a wad of damp stuffing and rolled onto his side. 

 

_ Give him space, _ someone said, but the force shaking him by the shoulders didn’t stop. 

 

God, he wished they’d stop- damn, he was soaked- where was the man? Why was he so cold still? He was back, wasn’t he? He should be warming up again- and it was still so dark-

 

He blinked a few times, and set his now-dull button eyes on the person above him. 

 

Jevil’s eyes were streaming, and he was mumbling apologetically, and the look of terror and sadness on the usually jolly Darkener’s face broke Seam’s heart. 

 

He coughed up another wad of cotton, and tried to stand. 

 

“What-” he began, but he was pushed back down, and seemingly inspected from head to toe. He managed to register that he’d had a bucket of cold water poured on him at some point- why was Jevil crying so loudly? It was almost getting a bit annoying-

 

The whole world was blurry. 

 

He can’t remember, to this day, how he ended up curled up on his couch with Jevil, feverish with both their faces flushed from heat- but he remembers some bickering between them. Just snippets, mind you- and their conversations did not make sense in the slightest- but somehow they did, in their own twisted fever dream way. 

 

Seam had to admit, though, that the whole thing was a nice respite from whatever the hell was going on. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops- assnfkjqwsjfv been working on other things. Also watching Captain Marvel. I have an idea for a kinda odd Agent of Asgard drabble, but I'm not sure if I should do it. Anyway, last chapter coming up! For real this time.


	5. King For A Day

He awoke the next day to find the jester on the floor of his room covered in a blanket, face pink with warmth. He seemed at peace enough, though he was sprawled oddly across the carpet, as if he’d fallen from the couch and hadn’t wanted to get back up.

As much as he wanted to let him rest, he himself was vexed at his current situation- what in the world had happened? He had to wake him up, ask him what had happened-

Checking himself over, he found his lavender fur was matted to his fabric, and remembering himself sputtering and coughing on the rehearsal room floor, sighed. He couldn’t recall how he’d come back after his run-in with the man- who, he remembered, fit Jevil’s description oddly well.

Right, Jevil- he’d know what happened.

He shook the small Darkener lightly by the shoulders. His impish ears twitched softly, and his eyes fluttered open. He sat up and stretched a bit, his energies seemingly drained, and then shook his head violently to wake himself up.

“...mmm- what… what happened, happened?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” Seam sighed. “Do you remember anything at all…?”

“...why am I in your room again?” Jevil asked sleepily.

“I don’t- know…” the cat replied.

Jevil suddenly seemed to perk up.

“The man,” he said hoarsely. “T-the man, the man, you saw him too, right?! In the rehearsal room? I’m not crazy, I can’t be crazy- not this time-”

“Yeah- I…”

Seam trailed off.

“I don’t know what to…”

There was a quick, sharp knock at the door- belonging to a person with equally pristine yet loud sort of mannerisms- Seam swung the door open to reveal one of the men of the court, Rouxls Kaard.

He was an eccentric little man. As such, Jevil was fond of him, though for Seam, he could be a lot to handle.

“Jevil, Seam! How wondrous- thou hast awakened! Thou gavest us all quite the scare yestermorn, with the both of thee simply toppling over like that- and delirious, the pair of you! Thine incessant bickering was most infuriating- and the things spoken twixt the two of thee! Preposterous gibberish- either way, how art thou feeling?”

Jevil rubbed the pink from his cheeks for a moment, sighing, before snatching up his hat once more and placing it gently back on his head. Both performers were still in their rehearsal clothes.

“Quite confused, confused I must say,” the small Darkener murmured. “We don’t know how to go on, go on…”

“Why so?” Rouxls inquired. “Did something trigger thine little, ah… “episode”... yestermorn?”

“No,” Seam said quickly, before Jevil could answer. “...no. We are just a bit confused about what happened after-”

He bit his tongue.

“After my, um- spell went wrong- yes. My spell went terribly wrong, it must’ve affected me and my partner in some way.”

Rouxls raised an eyebrow at Seam’s sudden hesitant tone, but nonetheless answered the question.

“Well, the pair of thee were quite delirious, so we brought thee both here and let thee rest,” he responded. “Nevertheless, I am glad to see thee both feeling better. A faulty spell, you say, caused thine distress?”

“Yes,” Seam lied through the stitches of his mouth. He eyed Jevil, who seemed perplexed, but trustingly played along. Seam nearly sighed in relief.

“Well, that would explain why it happened so suddenly. Magicks are unpredictable tools, after all- either way… just let me know if much else were to occur, dear mage,” Rouxls said. The suspicious air around him was so thick that Seam could nearly smell it. Rouxls was not a stupid man, and however unintelligent he seemed when faced with a challenge, he could always tell when he was being cheated. He was, after all, tasked with making and keeping The Rules- the laws of Card Kingdom.

“I will, Rouxls. Trust me,” Seam said calmly- and with that same calm, silently wove an illusion over his words- it probably wouldn’t work on Rouxls, hell, it might make him more suspicious, but it was worth a try if it meant keeping out of the Kings’ hair. Rouxls exited just as briskly as he’d come in, leaving Seam and a rather vexed Jevil by themselves.

“What was that all about?” Jevil asked.

“We can’t let anyone else know what’s been going on- maybe we can tell one of the Kings, or the Queen later on- but we’d have to do it directly.”

Seam stopped for a ragged breath.

“...that place- that man, that air of total nihilism around him,” Seam began. “It’s dangerous, Jevil. If what he says is true…”

He sat next to his friend.

“...if other citizens of our kingdom were exposed to that truth, I fear they may act with wild abandon… and though none of it may matter in the end, I cannot help but express distaste for a meaningless reality paired with the constant unpleasantness of anarchy and moral indifference- even for a fake world, it would not be one worth existing in… not over, and over, and over…”

Jevil was staring intently at him, golden pupils trembling with…

...excitement?  
“So, he really told you, told you…” Jevil said softly. “...I … I’m so glad!”

Seam’s face contorted in confusion.

“I’m so glad- I can finally tell you about all the feelings, the feelings I’ve been feeling!”

The jester exclaimed this, and suddenly jumped to his feet, though trembling a bit, and bounced lightly from side to side, tail curling into its signature “J” shape.

“W-when I found out, I was scared- scared a-and confused… so I came to you! I knew you could do something, something about it- and now I won’t be alone anymore!”

The jester chuckled this, leaning in to hug Seam, who’s confusion now knew no bounds.

“What are you going on about, Jevil…?”

The cat said this flatly, no emotion in his voice.

“Come on, you have to admit it,” Jevil told him. “You’re just a little bit curious, too, about what’s out there, what can be done- and it’ll all be undone anyway-”

With this, the jester pulled him into a hug. “I was scared to try for myself- but now that you know, too…”

He smiled, a big, toothy smile- the type that made the prince laugh whenever he showed it to him.

“...haven’t you ever wondered what it’s like to be a King for a day?”

If Seam had possessed a single ounce of blood in his body during that moment, it would have flushed from his face so quickly that he would’ve been left blank as a sheet.

“...did… did you just miss my whole speech about morality and how horrible the rest of our measly existence could be if people started messing with the world? Because I feel like you might’ve just implied that we-”

“Play as both stakeholder and card dealer.”

In Jevil’s hands, he hand summoned a Spade, a Diamond, a Heart, and a Club- the Quadrality their whole kingdom seemed to be based on. He admired each fragile extension of his magic carefully, before taking all of them in both palms and shattering them, allowing the magic to flow back into him.

“Yes! Come on- I-I know what you’re saying, about moral responsibility and all- and I get it! You don’t want to have a bad time- but it won’t matter in the end- not if we don’t tell anybody!”

Jevil drifted besides him, still grinning like an idiot.

“It’ll be our little secret, and when the game of war starts again, no one will remember anything…”

He twirled his tail softly.

“Perhaps, not even us- but won’t it be fun to at least have lived it? A little chaos, chaos, at least once?”

Seam swallowed hard.

“...Jevil- I…”

He sighed.

“I see your point… but I don’t think I’d be able to live with myself, condoning treason of that sort- i-if… that’s really what you want to do…”

“No, no! We’ll start small, small- just enjoy our lives to the fullest for a while- forget about the Lighteners, and those grouchy old Kings- but then…”

Jevil sat beside him once more, as if expectant.

“...a-and… and what if the game… doesn’t start again? What then…?”

Jevil giggled.

“Seam, Seam- don’t tell me you’re scared of this fake world we live in-!”

He paced around his feline companion slowly.

“If something goes wrong, you and I-” And here, he summoned the Quadrility again- “Are special, and you know it- I don’t fit in as Spade, Diamond, Heart, or Club, and you- well, only god knows what you are! We’ve got all the firepower they’ve got rolled into one! We could take them!”

Seam could feel his throat beginning to close up.

“...what if I don’t want to…?”

Jevil paused.

“...well, that’s a different story- why wouldn’t you want to? It’s exciting!”

Seam finally looked up at his partner, his golden pupils glimmering with tension and excitement- it was all too much like Jevil to talk such nonsense- even if, with everything they had been through, he was starting to make a little sense- but something was off, a missing piece of emotion that didn’t fit into Jevil’s narrative. A change of heart like that could be expected of him, but the suddenness of it all…

“...because it seems all too odd to me that you, the person who was whimpering on my couch two days ago, begging for any help you could get, are suddenly so excited about the thing that sparked terror in your eyes.”

Seam mewed this, level-headedly and calmly, and picked up his smaller companion without much struggle on the other’s part. His skin felt warm to the touch still, though he seemed unaffected by it.

“...I don’t trust this, Jevil- and it’s not that I don’t trust you, but I fear you may be under some sort of foreign influence- I suggest we forget about it for the time being.”

He let his paws shine softly with green magic as he carried Jevil out of his room and into his own. The Jester seemed to calm down. The excitement faded from his eyes, leaving the usual darkness of his black scleras in its leave.

“...mmkay.”

 

* * *

 

Seam never saw the man again.

No matter how many times he tore away at his illusions, at the world as an illusion-

The cold would come, and the Darkness-

That all-consuming, overbearing Darkness that draped over him each time.

But never the man.

He’d still talk to Jevil, he knew. He had often heard Jevil conversing with him, sometimes with droopy ears and a frightened tone, other times ecstatically, of suggestions, of things that were possible now that he and Seam were…

What was the word Jevil had used…?

“Free.”

Frightened, and alone, and completely, entirely free to do whatever they wanted.

He heard the man again only once- it was a brief garbled whisper in his ears, followed by hours and hours of cold and Darkness, and the message he’d left him had terrified him, because he’d never heard such talk of gross manipulation in his life-

“ONE NEED ONLY SOW THE SEEDS OF INFLUENCE FOR THEM TO TAKE EFFECT.”

The man had chattered darkly.

“LIKE DESERT PLANTS, DESPERATE FOR ANYTHING MORE OF THAT FORBIDDEN, RARE TASTE, THEY WILL LAP UP WHATEVER YOU GIVE THEM.”

And sadly, they had sprouted in his friend.

Yes, Seam had noticed it- how Jevil had learned to write in that strange language of symbols and hands in only days, how he read, voraciously, of anything he could find of existentialism. The Lighteners had once brought books about Descartes, Jevil had read them all already.

Yes, Seam had noticed it- how Jevil snapped more often at anyone that irritated him, how he skipped practice and broke palace rules. He had become the bane of Rouxls’ existence, supposedly even called on by the Queen herself once to discuss his behavior. He was more of a mess than usual when it came to organizing himself, and his ears were always perked in alert.

And yes, Seam had noticed the malice that had, ever so slowly, crept into his vibrant, cheerful voice- and he had noticed how it disappeared once more, replaced with a sort of sick ecstacy, when he got his way-

When he made people hurt.

He wished so desperately that he had not told him to “forget about it”.

He wished he had talked to him about what he’d said-

Because now, sitting in a rain of bullet hell, of spades, diamonds, clubs and hearts, he knew in his heart that he was too late.

Jevil had just been testing his boundaries by suggesting what they were capable of doing that day. All the fear was gone from him-

He had realized that no consequence could hold him down.

His selfishness was showing.

This odd transition, however, had not come spontaneously. King Spade had been getting on all their nerves-

Screaming abuse at the court members, throwing objects, yelling at messengers-

There had come a point where he began beating some residents of the castle when they neared him.

Seam had a feeling Jevil had been in wrong place at the wrong time.

Maybe he thought that with his newfound knowledge, he could get back at the King, or punish him for treating his subjects like objects, or perhaps even… overthrow him?

The scene had turned gruesome, fast-

But even once he’d been called, when no one else could calm the rampaging jester, Jevil did not stop.

Testing his limits again, maybe-

Or maybe, he had figured out there were no limits, and that’s what had made him snap- perhaps the total intemperance was what, in that very moment, had driven him mad- the knowledge that, born as he was, there was no such thing as true consequence.

Maybe he had figured out he was unstoppable, and it scared him.

He could do anything, and so he let himself go.

Seam skidded to a halt as he reflected on the haggard figure of his friend, floating high above him, tail curled into a J as always. There had been a brief ceasefire, and he huffed, calling out to Jevil.

“What in the worlds do you think you’re doing?” He yelled at him. “You’re going to hurt someone!”

“And won’t it be fun to see them try to dodge?” Jevil giggled. “It’s all chance, it’s all chance! How amusing!”

“This isn’t like you,” Seam called to him. “Please just come down and stop- we can talk this through! I know it’s been hard for us all lately- and especially you…”

Seam added this, noticing Jevil’s worn out, beat up shape. Seemed like he’d been ticking off King Spade more than usual.

“...but that’s not a reason to act out like this.”

“And who said I was acting out?” Jevil snarled. “Maybe I like all I’ve learned, unlike you! You took it all for granted, you moved straight along- and you told me to forget about it all.”

As Seam squinted, trying to make eye contact with his levitating figure, he could’ve sworn he saw him mumble something under his breath-

“And you left me alone with him.”

Nonetheless, he ignored it for the time being-

But now a days, he thinks about that phrase a lot.

“We can talk about it now,” he encouraged. “All you have to do is calm down, and stop your attack…”

“The Kings have you as their damn lap-cat, lap-cat.”

Jevil sneered this, but came closer to the ground.

“You’re just doing this for them, aren’t you?”

“I’m doing this for you, you idiot, because you’re my friend and I love you- get your head out of the clouds, he’s made you too paranoid to see three inches in front of your face-!”

Seam let his paws shine softly with green magic.

“...just come here. I want to help you.”

Jevil’s expression softened.

“...really?”

The cat nodded silently.

“...then why’d you bring a sword?”

Seam froze.

“My… my sword?”

He stared down at his sheath, where indeed, his needle sword hung.

“...b-but I thought I left that…”

“I knew it.”

“Jevil, please- wait-“

“You don’t trust me, you don’t-“

“Jevil-“

“You’re here to hurt me too, you’re here to lock me up, just like I heard him say-!”

“O-only if you don’t calm the hell down-“

“You’re a lap-cat, you’re a lap-cat.”

 

“I always knew you were his lap-cat.”

 

* * *

 

 

They played by the rules, initially.

26 rounds, with a tie each time. Somehow.

Spades, Diamonds, Hearts, Clubs. The suits sliced through the air with a whizzing sound, and stuck themselves in his fabric- well, the ones he did not deflect with his shield-

Jevil was scared. He could see it in his eyes-

So when the 26th round ended, and the both of them still stood, equally matched, as Seam pleaded for him to stop-

The call of “metamorphosis!” struck terror in his soul, and he had no choice but to pull the sword out.

It was a good thing he did, too, because the Devilsknife was fast, frightened, and in pain, and he was giving it his all- if he had not countered his strike with his own sword, it would’ve been the end of him.

He felt the Devilsknife stiffen, clearly hurt by the edge of the sword as it caught on his hilt, and decided he had to be more careful.

Another 26 rounds- this time it hurt, and while he coughed up stuffing and lost threads, the Devilsknife oozed with dust. Jevil’s bullet patterns had turned to absolute bullet hell- it burned, like a million papercuts at the same time. He had no choice but to retaliate.

When the cotton was clotting in his hands, and Jevil’s magic was exhausted, the two stopped for a moment-

And then Jevil leapt like a rabid dog upon him, with a force too strong to be made by his own weight, and tore him to shreds with his hands.

He felt betrayed, Seam knew- he wanted, so desperately, to live.

It still broke his heart when he tore his eye off, and taking it between his goblin-esque teeth, crushed it-

And kept Seam screaming for some time, clawing at his sutures-

Until the mage grew too agonized, and with a single kick, slammed him into the back of the dungeon.

Only when the bars were set up, did Jevil begin to beg not to be left alone-

“Not with him.”

Seam did not look back.

Seam did not come back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Help. HeLP I'VE GOT FINALS. I'M SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG, IT'S THE AP TESTS.


End file.
